Abbott talks with gay activist

Anti-discrimination, policy and those comments were all up for discussion when Opposition leader Tony Abbott met with Australian Coalition for Equality in a closed room meeting.
Abbott has still not indicated if he will take up offers to publicly meet with a group of gay and lesbian people, but his spokeswoman yesterday confirmed that he met with ACE last Wednesday.
Abbott’s media department again turned down Sydney Star Observer’s request for an interview.
ACE spokesman Corey Irlam said the meeting was a productive first step, although he continued to encourage Abbott to speak more publicly.
“We met to talk with him about concerns people had about his statements, and the impact that has on perceptions that the Liberal Party no longer has bipartisan support for the GLBTI community,” Irlam told Sydney Star Observer.
The meeting focused on policy development and the need for bipartisan support on anti-discrimination legislation,
“Mr Abbott was responsive to the fact that the federal Government is the only jurisdiction in Australia that doesn’t have discrimination laws protecting the GLBTI community, beyond the limited area of protection in federal employment.
“We would hope to see the Opposition consider their position and support discrimination laws in a bipartisan fashion, like we saw in 2008 when we removed discrimination from federal laws.”